Don’t buy into the hype that São Paulo is somehow inferior to Rio de Janeiro, Salvador or other more exotic Brazilian destinations — any traveler who visits Brazil and skips São Paulo is doing himself a massive disservice.

Take a bus from the city center of Mendoza to the nearby town of Maipú and spend an afternoon biking through the Argentine wine country — and, most importantly, sampling the wine and food for which the region is world-famous.

Although the diverse, eclectic countries of Southeast Asia are well-connected by rail, bus and several award-winning low costs carriers, you should familiarize yourself with the entry requirements of each before you start hopping around.

Loki is a backpacker hostel chain which operates four locations in Bolivia and Peru. After 16 nights stayed in three of these properties, I can safely say Loki provides the best overall hostel experience I’ve come across so far.

A sprawling metropolis nestled between the Andes Mountains to the east and less than an hour from the Pacific Ocean which sits to its west, Santiago’s urban landscape is as diverse and grand in scale as the scenery that surrounds it.